Bonding Wood via Cellulose Aqueous Solution as Cell Wall Adhesive

Abstract

The size of the wood plays a crucial role in determining its ultimate application. In order to break through the dimensions of natural wood, multiple pieces of wood are often bonded together with adhesives to form larger sizes. The physical and chemical properties of adhesives are different from those of natural wood, and this difference often leads to failure of the adhesive bonding interface. Herein, an aqueous solution of dissolved cellulose has been used as an adhesive to bond wood. The regenerated cellulose produced by recrystallization combines the wood fibers that originally existed on the wood surface cell wall. The resulting bonding wood interface consists of densely packed regenerated cellulose and wood cellulose fibers, which possess strong hydrogen bonds and physical entanglements. The shear strength has surpassed those of typical bio‐based adhesives and commercial adhesives. The same composition as natural wood endows this bonding interface with physical and chemical properties similar to natural wood such as weatherability. Bonding wood with this cellulose aqueous solution as an adhesive reduces the dependence on petrochemical‐based adhesives, and this facile and pressureless bonding strategy offers a promising route to manufacture sustainable wood composites with robust bonding interfaces.